German drill and metalworking tools made by Gühring KG have continued reaching Russia’s most sensitive defense and nuclear manufacturers despite the company’s public claim that it stopped its operations in Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an investigation reports.

The reporting says that after Russia’s invasion, Gühring announced it had “deconsolidated” its Russian subsidiary in 2022 and said it no longer supplied Russia “directly or indirectly.” However, the investigation—citing a separate report by The Insider—finds that Gühring-branded tools were still being used by Russian firms involved in major weapons programs.

It alleges that hundreds of procurement contracts signed between 2015 and 2023 connect Gühring products to state-owned Russian defense enterprises, including makers linked to Su-30SM aircraft, air-defense systems such as S-300 and S-400, precision artillery munitions, Kalashnikov weapons, and parts connected to Russia’s nuclear program. The investigation also claims that the former subsidiary was renamed and continued importing Gühring products after June 2022.

Customs records reviewed in the reporting reportedly indicate that at least $20.98 million worth of Gühring-manufactured tools—such as drills, milling cutters, and threading tools—entered Russia. The investigation further says the Russian entities continued issuing conformity declarations for Gühring products and used email addresses associated with the “guhring.ru” domain.

The article also focuses on how management and intermediary structures may have continued the supply chain after the German company’s stated withdrawal. It describes the establishment of a company tied to the former head of the Russian unit, claiming it took over operations of a Gühring facility in Nizhny Novgorod. Financial documents reviewed in the investigation are cited to show substantial revenue in subsequent years.

Gühring, in response to the investigative reporting it cites, is described as asserting that it deconsolidated its Russian entity and retained no legal or practical influence or control over it after that point, while pointing to checks on other suppliers involved in exports.